Il Pollaio, a small, no-nonsense restaurant in North Beach, takes a simply grilled bird and turns it into a durable and delicious meal ticket. That's been its strength for years, and it shows no sign of faltering.

With moist meat and crisp skin, the chicken is available in whole or half portions. It has a wonderfully homey taste that fills the stomach and soothes the soul. A whole chicken sells for $9.50 and the half portion is $5.75. Add an order of fries or a salad to that half chicken and the price rises to only $8.50.

While chicken is the undisputed star here -- Il Pollaio means chicken coop in Italian -- the menu does offer a small selection of other meats served in large portions.

Pork chops ($11) are well-seasoned if sliced too thin. The innate sweetness of the meat is supported by thickly cut onion rings lightly charred on top. The shoulder lamb chops ($11.50) were also good, and cooked as requested, but there wasn't enough room on the crowded plate to cut around the bone or free the meat from the tough collar of fat and sinew.

HEFTY FRIES

The hamburger ($6 with fries, $6.75 with salad) looks more like a Salisbury steak than a mere burger, cooked as ordered, with a buoyant texture and a row of sliced tomatoes on the side. The fries themselves ($2.75 small, $3.50 large) are not skinny frites, but instead are husky slabs of deep-fried potato,

hot and lightly crisp.

Housemade sausage ($4 for two large links), in hot or mild versions, are also worth ordering for their beautiful texture and lovely fennel-flecked flavor. Round out the plate with a combination salad ($3.75 small, $5 large), made up of separate mounds of green salad, coleslaw and bean salad; or with marinated eggplant ($4), four thick rounds dressed in a fruity oil.

TO SEE IS TO PAY

Dessert is limited to good versions of flan and almond torte (both $3).

Il Pollaio is the kind of place where the television is tuned to a soccer game, the lights are kept bright and the highest-priced chianti ($24) is poured from a straw-wrapped bottle, without a twinge of irony. Service is friendly but can often be perfunctory. What you see at Il Pollaio is what you get -- and pay for. That counts, which may explain why, after nearly two decades, it's still a hit.

IL POLLAIO
Address: 555 Columbus Ave. (between Union and Green streets), San Francisco
Phone:(415) 362-7727
Hours: Open 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Beer and wine. No
reservations. Credit cards accepted. Difficult street parking.
OVERALL: TWO STARS
Food: TWO STARS
Service: ONE AND A HALF STARS
Atmosphere: ONE AND A HALF STARS
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PRICES: $
NOISE RATING: FOUR BELLS
RATINGS KEY
FOUR STARS: Extraordinary
THREE STARS: Excellent
TWO STARS: Good
ONE STAR: Fair
(box): Poor
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$ Inexpensive: entrees under $10
$$ Moderate: $10-$17
$$$ Expensive: $18-$24
$$$$ Very Expensive: more than $25
Prices based on main courses. When entrees fall between these categories,
the prices of appetizers help determine the dollar ratings.
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ONE BELL: Pleasantly quiet (under 65 decibels)
TWO BELLS: Can talk easily (65-70)
THREE BELLS: Talking normally gets difficult (70-75)
FOUR BELLS: Can only talk in raised voices (75-80)
BOMB: Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)
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Chronicle critics make every attempt to remain anonymous.
All meals are paid for by the Chronicle.
Star ratings are based on a minimum of three visits.
Ratings are updated continually based on a least one revisit.